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Celeb News: Beyonce fails to be authentic about her pregnancy?
Member Since: 11/23/2011
Posts: 46,048
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Beyonce fails to be authentic about her pregnancy?
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I never realized how not pregnant Beyoncé might have been until the Saturday premiere of her HBO documentary, Life Is But a Dream. Since announcing her pregnancy at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards (in August of that year), there have been naysayers, referred to with tongue in cheek as "Beyoncé birthers." There was that footage of her apparently pregnant belly folding in on itself when she made an appearance on Australian TV in the fall of 2011. Months later, Beyoncé addressed it with a pithy explanation: "It was a fabric that folded - does fabric not fold? Oh my gosh, so stupid."
Life Is But a Dream covers a...period of time before the supposed birth of Beyoncé and Jay-Z's daughter, Blue Ivy. It's hard to say exactly how long because particulars like where and when are barely telegraphed – there's not a single explanatory chyron in the entire film. Cynically, I wonder if this is a sign of co-director Beyoncé's egocentrism; she assumes that we've been following her closely enough to know what she's talking about without bothering to explain certain key facts. Or maybe she thinks we can read her mind. Or maybe she's just not that great of a memoirist.
Regardless, it makes sense that given the time examined, Beyoncé's movie would chronicle Beyoncé's pregnancy and the controversy it birthed. The problem with Life Is But a Dream's treatment of her pregnancy isn't that it protests too much – it protests too weirdly. We never see a full, clear shot of Beyoncé's pregnant, swanlike body. Instead it's presented in pieces, owing to the limitations of her Mac webcam. When her body is shown in full, it's in grainy, black and white footage in which her face is shadowed.
Why, though? If you're going to present an image of your pregnant self to prove the naysayers wrong, why do it in such an obscure way? Why bother? The footage seems to exist to be described as "beautiful." Is it just art, or more lies?
That question could apply to the whole of Life Is But a Dream, in which the notoriously tight-lipped Beyoncé consciously unveils parts of her life and, in the process, reveals nothing. On firing her father, Matthew Knowles, as her manager, she says, "It was a stressful, sad, difficult time." Gee. Imagine. On her general feelings, she says, "If I'm scared, be scared, allow it, release it, move on." On her humanity, she says, "I know that people see celebrities, and they seem like they're so perfect - they seem like their life is so great, and they have money and fame. But I'm a human being. I cry. I'm very passionate and sensitive. My feelings get hurt. I get scared and nervous like everyone else." This last quote, by the way, came from a video message she recorded for journalists attending a listening session for her I Am...Sasha Fierce album in 2008. Prefab on top of prefab.
Much like in Madonna's Truth or Dare, there is a great sense of performance in Life Is But a Dream. Beyoncé Knowles is Beyoncé Knowles. But unlike Madonna, who got off on being bad and pushing buttons, Beyoncé's aesthetic is perfection. She lives to be admired, and the supposed grittiness in Life Is But a Dream exists so that we admire her more. Look at how critical Beyoncé is of herself when she watches herself! Look at how pretty she looks naturally! (Never mind that her several made-under looks clearly required makeup.) Listen to how well she articulates herself when presented softball questions by an interviewer that she hired for a movie she is orchestrating and directing!
Again, I wonder: Why bother? Is it all for money? Is the point to promote a brand? To keep fresh in minds for her imminent upcoming album? Maybe. But if you read Life Is But a Dream as sincere expression, it becomes something far weirder, the product of an extraordinarily talented, extraordinary bland person who is never not stilted. What if this were an accurate depiction of Beyoncé's limited, surface-level capacity to express herself in daily life that reaches savant-like highs only through her art? That is a fascinating life worth capturing.
Like the black-and-white footage of her supposedly pregnant self, all of Life Is But a Dream provokes more questions than it answers. We leave knowing nothing and talking and talking and talking, essentially doing the heavy-lifting for the privileged star. "All I need is not me, because I can't do it by myself," says Beyoncé on the makings of Beyoncé. It takes a nation to fuel a machine this big.
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Member Since: 10/20/2009
Posts: 20,682
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Oh they better read her
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Member Since: 2/17/2012
Posts: 1,096
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Why can't they just move the **** on? This is creepy
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Member Since: 8/7/2010
Posts: 4,179
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This is hilarious.
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Member Since: 5/3/2012
Posts: 42,099
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They knew that silhouette would prove nothing. The rumors won't stop until there is a 9-Month belly shot of her.
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Member Since: 11/23/2011
Posts: 2,492
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If you don't think that woman was pregnant, you should probably kill yourself.
I love the comment comparing Bey birthers to Obama birthers. But I disagree about having to stop feeding them - they're unconsciously fueling the Beyoncé machine, which I'm sure Bey is fully aware of. She does love her haters, after all.
And why did you bold "extraordinary bland person?" It has nothing to do with your thread title.
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Member Since: 3/6/2011
Posts: 7,176
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Member Since: 7/21/2010
Posts: 12,818
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Aww, they seem mad... Beyonce didn't show what you wanted?! #poordat
Still Made HISTORY bitchesss
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Member Since: 10/29/2010
Posts: 29,249
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Gawker? Really.
And another thread from you about the King.
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Member Since: 7/22/2012
Posts: 6,744
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Not people being obsessed with how her child sat in her womb. The creepiness of it all is too much.
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Member Since: 8/23/2010
Posts: 16,089
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Lol at a time being needed when she made it clear at the beginning of the doc that it spans a good amount of the last days. In that regard she didn't need to specify : "JayZs B'day", "Juelz's celebration", it wouldn't make sense.
And how old is the person who wrote this? How can you exactly fake the pregnancy part? She showed her belly twice in the doc and twice in real life, if they still need more proof, they are not getting it and are just incredibly stupid. Nothing she can do about it.
And I'm so happy that they are mad they didn't discover anything. She was not going to reveal or share her private life with you, it was a professional doc (hence the Revel clips) in which she clarified certain things like her miscarriage and the controversy surrounding her pregnancy.
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Member Since: 12/4/2008
Posts: 6,296
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Quote:
Originally posted by chilluminati
Not people being obsessed with how her child sat in her womb. The creepiness of it all is too much.
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I've never seen such fascination
What do they want? The placenta? Chile SIT.
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Member Since: 11/23/2011
Posts: 46,048
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Quote:
Originally posted by DG1
Gawker? Really.
And another thread from you about the King.
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I am patiently waiting for her lead single and this happened to float up. Thought it best to share.
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Member Since: 12/28/2011
Posts: 19,165
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They are dragging her through the mud with this documentary. Poor King B.
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Member Since: 6/7/2011
Posts: 10,608
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The obsession about Beyonce lately is getting creepy. The obsession from the thread starter is getting creepy as well.
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Member Since: 4/4/2011
Posts: 2,385
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A comment from someone sane!
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Beyonce birthers remind me of Obama birthers. It's not really about the truth, but denying someone something. In the President's case, it's about proving his unworthiness for the highest office (due to his race and family history). In Beyonce's case, it seems to be about denying "perfect" Beyonce a natural birth, as if it tarnishes her. The more information either releases, the more it feeds the birthers. At some point, you have to stop feeding and move on.
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Banned
Member Since: 11/24/2009
Posts: 61,404
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She should have just shown her pregnant belly to offer incontestable proof once,and for all. She should have said that normally she wouldn't justify such rumors about her personal life by addressing them, but because this concerns her unborn child, she's doing it to silence everyone.
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Member Since: 8/19/2011
Posts: 37,346
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The article is weird, actually If people already think she wasn't pregnant for real, they never will.
I just will never get why they need to see her fully nude to believe it when Blue looks just like her and Jay.
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Banned
Member Since: 4/13/2011
Posts: 18,738
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The obsession with Beyonce is insane. Like INSANE. She has given the media and everyone else NO REASON to be this obsessed with her.
Remember, she's a boring pop star.
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Member Since: 11/23/2011
Posts: 46,048
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The "documentary" would have been the perfect opportunity to show a visit to the hospital while Bey got a sonogram. That would have been the ultimate proof.
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